It is known in the art to add a scavenger to a photographic element in order to prevent oxidized developing agent from diffusing from one light sensitive layer to the next and then reacting an undesired location or at an undesired point in time. In particular, it is undesirable for oxidized developer to diffuse away from the imaging layer in which it formed and into other color records where it can form the wrong color dye. In some formats, it can also be undesirable for tone scale and fog considerations to have oxidized developer form dye at early stages of development. Typically, scavengers reduce or eliminate oxidized developers without forming any permanent dyes and do not cause stains nor release fragments that have photographic activity. Scavengers are typically rendered nondiffusible in the element by incorporation of an anti-diffusion group (a ballast) or by attachment of the scavenger to a polymer backbone. Mobility of an oxidized developer scavenger within a film element is undesirable because of reaction and elimination of oxidized developer where it is needed; i.e. in an imaging layer. Ideally, the scavenger should be restricted only to those parts of the film element where the presence of oxidized developer is detrimental.
Known scavengers for oxidized developers include ballasted para-hydroquinone (1,4-dihydroxybenzene) compounds such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,453 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,845; ballasted gallic acid (1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene) compounds as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,874; ballasted sulfonamidophenols such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,987; ballasted hydrazides such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,787 and ballasted pyrocatechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene) compounds as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,968 and German Patent No. 766,135.
Such known materials are insufficient in their activity and require high material usage, thus increasing cost, storage and handling concerns as well as requiring thicker layers which degrade sharpness through increased scatter path length. In addition, because these known materials are sensitive to oxidative conditions, they are often insufficiently stable upon long term storage. Finally, many of these materials form stains or colored residues during processing. Therefore, it would be desirable to find scavengers for oxidized developers that do not have these shortcomings.
The use of 5-substituted ballasted resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxybenzene) compounds as scavengers for oxidized developer are generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,431. However, the disclosed scavengers (5-alkyl and 5-carbonamido substituted) are insufficient in activity. U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,014 describes polymeric resorcinols as useful scavengers, but the disclosed scavengers (5-carbonamido substituted) are insufficient in activity. Published Japanese Patent Application 61-129640 discloses some 2-substituted resorcinols in combination with selected sensitizing dyes. Published Japanese Patent Application 58-140739 discloses 2-substituted resorcinols in photographic systems.
EP 0 071 570 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,035 describe resorcinols as useful `black` couplers; that is, they form a neutral dye image In particular, the latter patent describes resorcinols substituted in the 5 position (among other variations with the 2-position being most preferred) with a carbonyl group attached to a group preventing diffusion in a photographic element. The anti-diffusion group attached to the carbonyl is described as being an alkyl or aromatic group
A problem to be solved is to provide a photographic element containing an interlayer scavenger of oxidized developer that is active to prevent wandering of oxidized developer.